


Welcome To The Underworld

by princessoftheworlds



Series: It's not a crime to love what you cannot explain [8]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 23:46:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6588157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessoftheworlds/pseuds/princessoftheworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hit by a car, Caroline Forbes meets her Underworld guide, Niklaus Mikaelson.</p><p>Day Seven of Spring Klaroline AU Week 2016</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome To The Underworld

She really shouldn’t be texting and crossing the street at the same time, but Caroline Forbes can’t resist.

She’s chatting with Bonnie about the perfect prom dress she found at the boutique (strapless, coral silk, and white lace), sending each other emoji and little pieces of high school gossip, and she never hears the car approaching.

There is a skid when the driver slams down on the breaks, attempting to stop the car, but its momentum carries the vehicle forward.

The impact is enough, launching her into the air as she lets out one sudden scream of alarm and pain, shopping bags scattering everywhere.

Caroline Forbes, seventeen, lone daughter of Sheriff Liz Forbes and Bill Forbes, best friend of Bonnie Bennett and Elena Gilbert, ex-girlfriend of Matt Donovan, Miss Mystic Falls, is dead before her body hits the ground with a thud.

XXX

Niklaus Mikaelson watches the newly-dead as they surge out of the elevators to the Underworld and swarm the gates, waiting to be assigned a Charon.

Next to him, his friend Stefan Salvatore yawns, rubbing sleep out of his bleary eyes. “I hate this,” he grumbles to Klaus. “I hate having to watch these newbies realize that they’re dead and cry for mama.”

“That’s good for you, mate, but this is our job. You chose this, I believe, as your assignment.” Klaus eyes the clock impatiently; one more hour and he will be able to go out for drinks with his other friends Marcel and Lucien. “When I died, they just assigned jobs. They would put you anywhere.”

“You died a thousand years ago,” Stefan reminds him grumpily. “At least your death was better than mine. I was shot. My father shot my brother and I, because we were attempting to free a Union soldier.”

Klaus does not bother to correct him, instead sighing and refocusing his attention on the large crowd of dead.

“Stefan Salvatore?” a bored guard calls. “You have a newbie. Valerie Tulle. Drowned in her bathtub.”

“Coming,” Stefan replies loudly to the guard. Turning to Klaus, he complains, “Who drowns in their bathtub? Come on, now.”

Watching his friend be led off to drowned-in-a-bathtub Valerie, Klaus leans back against his chair, tapping the spotless marble floor with his boot in an erratic rhythm.

Two minutes pass. Then ten. Then thirty. Finally, with ten minutes left to his shift, he rises and stretches his calves out, uncomfortable from sitting still for so long.

“Niklaus Mikaelson?”

Klaus glances up as a guard waits for him expectantly, and he groans in frustration. He was so close from ending his shift.

Silently, he follows the guard down the stairs of the balcony and to a private conference room off the side. Klaus twists the doorknob and enters the room as the guard leaves off to the right.

Seated on a metal chair inside is a gorgeous blonde. Klaus puts her age at seventeen, four years younger than he was when he died. She gazes up at him with azure-colored eyes as he enters, her curls quivering with the movement of her head.

“Hello, love,” he begins to say confidently. “My name is-”

“Niklaus Mikaelson,” the blonde assumes in a musical tone that takes him aback. “What kind of name is that, anyways? What are you, a Viking?”

“Niklaus Mikaelson is the name my father gave me. Please, call me Klaus.” He smiles charismatically, his eyes twinkling mischievously. His day just took a pleasant, yet unexpected turn. “And, yes. I was a Viking. How did you die? I assume by now you have figured out where you are.”

“The Underworld, yeah; that was kind of obvious upon seeing the whole three-headed dog beast,” she explains snarkily. “I was hit by a car.”

He cannot help himself; he winces. “Ouch, that must have been painful, love.”

“Actually, no. It wasn’t. The impact broke my neck relatively painlessly. And my name is Caroline, so you can stop calling me by your little pet names,” Caroline snaps, turning to glance out the window overlooking the rest of the Underworld.

“Brilliant to meet you, Caroline. Welcome to the Underworld. You’ve gotten the memo that you are dead. After a quick tour of the facilities, you will be assigned an apartment or residence and given choices of a job. If you need any assistance, a list of services will be provided to you to aid you in easing yourself into your life after death.” He finished his droning, eyeing Caroline curiously who is giggling at this point.

“You really don’t like your job, do you? What are you, anyways?” Caroline blurts out amongst bursts of laugher.

He smiles sincerely now. “No. Not really. I was assigned this job when I died a thousand years ago. Now, they allow you to pick your job.” Chuckling slightly, he continues, “I’m a Charon. A guide.”

“Like the original myths?” Caroline raises a delicate, golden eyebrow.

“Yes, but that Charon retired a long time ago. Almost two thousand years before my death.” Klaus checks his watch that hangs loosely on his wrist. “Do you need anything else, love? My shift’s over.”

She hums thoughtfully. “No. I’m good. I think I got the gist of it; I’m dead basically.”

“Well, welcome to the Underworld. Enjoy your stay.”

The door slams shut behind him, leaving Caroline to stare dully at the wall.

XXX

A week later, Klaus is out in the local supermarket, shopping with Henrik, his little brother. Henrik died when he was sixteen, mauled by wolves, ten years after Klaus himself died.

“Hey, Klaus!” comes a cheery voice from the aisle on the other side. It’s Caroline, appearing fresher than when he met her last and clad in a yellow sundress.

“Who’s that, Nik?” Henrik asks curiously.

“One of my old dead souls. Helped her last week,” Klaus replies distractedly, watching the blonde and her radiant smile as she approaches. “How are you adjusting to being dead, love?” he calls.

“I’m fine. How’re you?”

“Good.”

She turns to Henrik, eyes widening as she takes in the resemblance between him and Klaus. “And who are you?”

“This is Henrik,” Klaus responds swiftly, “my brother.”

“Oh.” Her smile diminishes for a moment. “How nice to have family around you. I was an only child.”

“It’s not just Nik and I,” Henrik pipes up. “Freya, our eldest sister, died relatively young in childbirth; she’s twenty-three. Kol, who also died in battle, is nineteen. But our other siblings, Finn, Elijah, and Rebekah lived to have full life and died past seventy.”

“Ignore him,” Klaus states, chuckling, ruffling Henrik’s hair playfully. “Have you made any acquaintances, love?”

“I met Davina Claire; she died when-”

“She was sixteen, slit throat. She’s our brother Kol’s girlfriend,” Klaus interrupts offhandedly while Caroline smiles in polite confusion. “Anyone else?”

She frowns, sighing heavily. “No, not really. It’s been a long week.”

“Have dinner with me,” he proposes charmingly. “A couple friends and I are going out for drinks tonight. You can join us. Stefan and Damon are from Mystic Falls too, I believe.”

“The Salvatores?” Caroline asks in surprise. “We learned about them last year. Heroes who were shot dead attempting to save Union soldiers in captivity.”

“Don’t tell Damon that,” Henrik jokes. “It’ll go to his head.”

Klaus laughs roughly. “You’ll most likely approve of Katherine, Gia, Lucien, and Marcel. Katherine is from Bulgarian royalty; she hung herself in 1492. Gia is a musician who died like you only last year. Lucien is a servant from France, stabbed by a prince in 1002 AD because of his affair with the prince’s sister Aurora. Marcel is a former slave who died similarly to the Salvatores, his neck snapped while freeing slaves in 1835.”

“They sound like very colorful characters,” Caroline comments. “I’ll think about it.” She beams and walks away, hips swaying as she does.

Once she’s gone, Henrik remarks to his older brother, “You fancy her, don’t you?”

“Nonsense,” Klaus snaps, but he continues to watch Caroline Forbes leave.


End file.
